Locomotive booster



' F. W. MARTIN LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct.31, 1923 w/vwm A TTORNEY MJW V Oct. so, 1928. I 1,689,676

. F. w. MARTIN LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER.

Original Filed Oct. 31, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f&

I INVENTOR- A TTORNEYS fit.

Patented Get. 30, 1928.

UNITED STA TES PATENT OFFICE.

FBEDERICK'W. MARTIN, OF BRONXVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO FRANKLIN RAIL-WAY SUPPLY COMP-ANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWAREJ LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER.

Application filed October 31, 1923, Serial No. 671,839.

My invention relates to locomotive boosters, and is more especiallyconcerned with operating such boosters on superheated steam. Besidesproviding superheated steam for the booster of a locomotive, I aim toprevent burning out of the superheating means when the booster is not inoperation, and to utilize such means advantageously for other purposes.Preferably, I provide for doing all this automatically, with little orno special attention to the matter from the engineer of the locomotive.

How these and other results and advantages can be realized through myinvention in a novel manner will appear from my description hereinafterof the best embodiment of the invention known to me. In this embodiment,the general booster arrangement and control are substantially as shownin U. S. Patent No. 1,470,761 to Frank Peters; and means are shown forutilizing the booster superheater for the locomotive steam supply whenthe locomotive is in operation without the booster. In the presentinstance, indeed, the locomotive shown is fitted with a superheater ofits own, which may be supplemented by the booster superheater.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side view of alocomotive and its booster with my invention applied thereto; and Fig. 2is a schematic diagram of the operating parts and connections moreessential to a proper understanding of my invention, on a larger scalethan Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings generally, but first more especially to Fig.1, it will be seen that the locomotive shown is equipped with a boosterengine or motor 5 applied to an axle 6 of its trailertruck,although itmight, of course, be applied to any other suitable axle of thelocomotive, or of its tender, or even of some other vehicle or car inthe train. The locomotive is also equipped with a superheater 7 offamiliar type, comprising a header structure 8 mounted in the smoke-box,and tubes 9 extending re'arward into extra large flues 10 of the boiler11. The header 8. (Fig. 2) is divided into upper and lower intake anddelivery compartments 12, 13 by a horizontal diaphragm 14, and thesuperheater tubes 9 are connected in parallel between thesecompartments. The intake compartment 12 receives boiler steam throughthe pipe 15 from the main by opening a partially Renewed September Z'Y,192G.

locomotive throttle 16 in the steam dome 17 of the boiler 11, as usual,and the superheated steam passes from the delivery compart-merit 13 tothe locomotive engine valve chests and cylinders 18 through pipes 19, asusual.

In the present instance, the superheater 20 for the booster 5 is similarto the main superheater 7 in construction and arrangement. Its headerstructure 21 is located directly in front of the main header 8, and,indeed, cast integral with it. The intake compartment 22 of this header21 receives boiler steam from the steam dome 17 through piping 23, 24Ccontrolled by the booster throttle 25, a piston-actuated by-pass valve26, and a stop-valve 27, and superheated steam passes from the deliverycompartment 28 to the booster engine through piping 29, controlled by apiston-actuated valve 30.

hen the booster is not in operation, its superheater 20 may be protectedand prevented from burning out by passing fluid thcrethrough to absorbthe heat. lnder these conditions, the booster superheater 20 may be shutoff from the booster 5 and from any supply of steam by closure of thevalves 25, 26, and 30, and may be connected to receive steam from thelOCOlllO'tlVQ supply and thus supplement the locomotive superheater 7.In the present instance, the booster superheater 20 is connected inparallel with the locomotive superheater 7 for this purpose, balanceddouble valve controlling passage of steam throughbypass chambers 34 and35 above and below the intake compartments 12, 22 and the dcliverycompartments 13,28,1'espectively'. here shown the booster supply pipe 23,is connected to the upper chamber 3 1.) In effect, therefore, thesuperheaters i, 20 are virtually a single superheatcr for the locomotivesteam supply when the valve 33 is open; while when this valve 33 isclosed, such super-heater is sectionalized ,-so to speak, and thebooster steam supply passed through the portion thereof hereinbeforereferred to as the booster superheater 20.

As already intimated, the varying use of the superheater section 20 isin the present instance controlled automatically, as an incident to thegeneral control of the booster 5. It becomes necessary, therefore, todescribe also the general booster control system here illustrated, whichis substantially shown .in the Peters patent mentioned above and in theapplication of Lye & F errier, Serial No, 587,868, filed in the U. S.Patent Oflice September 13, 1922, and assigned to theassignee of thisapplication.

As explained in the citations just given and in U. S. Patent No.1,339,395 to lngersoll, granted May 11, 1920, boosters such as hereshown at 5 are intended to assist the locomotive in starting and at slowSpeeds; but ,they are not intended to drive the locomotive bythemselves, or to operate at all at high speeds. Hence provisions aremade for connecting the booster 5 to and discon neeting it from the axle6 that it drives in due correlation with the operation of thelocon'iotive, and for operating the booster throttle in likecorrelation.

The diagrammatic illustration of the booster 5 in igs. 1 and 2 showsacylinder 36 and the pinions 37, 3,8 and idler gear 39 through whichthey drive the axle 6. The pinion 37 is driven .by the booster cylinders36, and the pinion 38 is fast on the axle 6. Theidler pinion 39 ismounted on a rocker 40 fulcrumed at 41, it is always in mesh with thepinion 37, and is swung into and out of mesh with the pinion 38 by amovable operating cylinder 42 and an opposing spring 43 andcounterweight 44. Fluid pressure, preferably air, is sup plied to thecylinder 42 through the pipe 4.5 and is conducted therefrom through thepipe 46 as wiil appear hereinafter. The booster motor is said to 1 beentrained when the cylinder 42 is operated to throw the idler gear 39into mesh with the gear 38, as shown in Fig. 1. Disentrainment isaccomplished by exhausting the fluid pressure from the cylinder 42,whereupon the spring 43 assisted by the counterweight 44 returns therocking me1n I ber 40 to the position illustrated in Fig. 2.

Before the booster motor 5 can be thrown intooperation, it is necessaryfor the engineman to throw the reverse lever 47 into the corner as it iscolloquially expressed. In this'position, which is to the right in theshowing of Figs. 1 and 2, a latch 48carried by the reverse lever 47engages the end of the plunger 49 of what is called the reverse leverpilot valve 50. When .the plunger .49 is depressed, its upper valve 51is seated, and exhaust of fluid from pipe 45 to the atmosphere through.the opening 52 thereabove Y is thus discontinued. At the same time, thelower valve 53 is opened to establish communication between the airreservoir 54 and the pipe 45, through the pipe 55 and the interiorof thereverse lever pilot valve casing. The cylinder 42 is'then actuatedvbythe compressed air to move the idler gear 39 into mesh with the gear 38as already described. At the same time, the compressed air also passesthrough branches of the pipe 45 to open the spring-closed valves .26 and30, thus permitting a small amountof boiler steam to pass through thepipes 23, 24, and 29 to the booster 5, so as to turn it over slowly andfacilitate proper meshing of the gears 38, 39, as well as to blow of]?water of condensation through the then open blow-off cocks 56.

After the cylinder 42 has been moved to accomplish the foregoing, theair pressure is admitted to the pipe 46 leading to the chamber 57 at theleft hand end of the throttle pilot and control valve 58 which ispreferably secured to the side of the steam dome 17. Here furtherprogress of the air pressure is temporarily blocked by the valve 59.

The main locomotive throttlelo may be controlled and operated (as usual)by means of the bell crank lever 62 and the rod 63 leading to thelocomotive cab. After the reverse lever 47 has been throwninto thecorner and the main throttle 16 has been opened to admit steam tothepipe 15 and to the locomotive cylinders 18 in the manner well understoodin locomotive practice, the boiler pressure will be admitted to therighthand end of the piston 64 of the-throttle pilot and control valve58, through the pipe 65 and the chamber 66. Thereupon the piston 64 willbe moved to the left, against the pressure of the springs 67 and 68, tounseat the valve 59 and adn'iit air pressure from the pipe 46 and thechamber 57 to the chamber 69 and the pipe 70; This pipe 70 has branchesleading to the operating piston 71 oft-he spring-closed booster throttle25, to the operating piston 72 of the self-open .ing partly unbalancedbooster superheater valve 33, and to the piston-closed self-opens ingbooster cylinder blow-oil cocks 56, such 1 as described in theabove-cited Lye and Ferrier application. \Vhen, therefore, the main.throttle 16 is opened afterthe reverse lever 47 has been thrown forwardinto the corner, the booster 'cylinderblowpif cocks 56 will be closed,the booster throttle 25 opened, and the valve 33 closed for passage ofthe booster steam through the booster superheater 20, the valve 30having previously been opened, as hereinbefore described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the booster motor will not beeffective as a propolling power until after the main throttle has beenmoved to admit steam pressure to the main locomotive cylinders.

When it comes into operation, it will automatically be supplied withsuperheated steam, by virtue of the opening of the valve 30 by theinitialoperation of the'plunger 49 to entrain the booster 5 and of theclosing of the valve 33 when the .boost-erthrottle 2.5 opened afterntrainment of the booster. And when, finally, the locomotive 1s runningwithoutthe booster, the booster superheater 20 will be utilized to heatthe steam supply for the locomotive, and thus protected from burningout.

I claim:

1. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, 0t superheatingmeans for the locomotive steam supply, and means for passing separatelytherethrough the steam supply for the booster when the latter is inoperation.

2. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a superheater forthe locomotive steam supply, and means for sectionalizing thesuperheater and passing steam for the booster through a portion thereof.

3. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a superheater torthe booster, and means for preventing burnout of the superheater whenthe booster is not in operation.

4;. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a separatesuperheater unit for the booster, and means for passing steam for thelocomotive through said superheater when the booster is not inoperation.

5. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of superheaters fortheir respective steam supplies, and means for passing steam for thelocomotive through the superheater for the booster.

6. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, means forautomatically entraining and starting the booster when the locomotive isstarted, superheaters for the steam supplies of locomotive and booster,and means for automatically connecting the booster superheater inparallel with the locomotive superheater when the booster is notentrained.

7. The combination .With a locomotive and a booster, and control meansfor entraining and disentraining the latter, of a super-v heater for theboester steam supply, and

motive means actuated by said control means for passing other fluidthrough said superheater when the booster is not entrained.

8. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, and control meansfor the latter, of a superheater for the booster steam sup ply, andmeans actuated by said control means for passing steam for thelocomotive through said superheater when the booster is not inoperation.

9. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, and control meansfor entraining the latter, of a superheater for the locomotive, andmeans actuated by said control means for sectionalizing said superheaterand passing steam for the booster through a portion thereof when thebooster is entrained.

10. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a superheaterfor. the locowith valved connections to the booster steam supply and tothe booster, control means for entraining and slowly turning over thebooster, and thereafter opening the valve means in said booster steamsupply connectiomand means actuated by the initial operation of saidcontrol means to entrain the booster for opening the valve means in theother of the aforesaid connections.

11. The combination of a locomotive, a booster motor, a superheater,conduit means for supplying the locomotive with steam through saidsuperheater, a throttle associated with said conduit means, separateconduit means for supplying the booster with steam through saidsuperheater and a separate throttle for controlling said separateconduit means.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

' FREDERICK W. MARTIN.

